It Started With a Breakup
by mmm.kai.mmm
Summary: Naruto breaks up with Sasuke. Read to find out why, how he copes and what happens... narusasu
1. Chapter 1

It started with a break up

"What am I meant to do without you?"

"Move on"

"Move on? Move one?! I love you. With all my heart and soul. You can't just tell me to move on!"

"I don't have time for this Sasuke! I'm not going to be able to become Hokage if I have you hassling me about a family! Go find Sakura! She still loves you. Go with someone who cares!"

And with that, he walked away, leaving him on the floor, tears streaming down Sasuke's face uncontrollably. Sasuke had now lost everything; his family, his home, his talent, his friends, and his love. Okay… so he lost his family and friends and love. He hadn't lost his talent; he was just… too distracted by his loves beauty… and the pain in his arse… literally, he still had his home and money.

Naruto loved Sasuke, but he saw what being with him had done. Sasuke had become pathetic, clingy, and needy; the only person he would talk to was Naruto. The blonde had tried to tell him to not be so obsessed with him, but there was no change. He had to break it off. He hoped that it would trigger something and he would return to his normal self.

When Naruto and Sasuke had first met, Sasuke was shy and quiet but strong and seemed the type to not let others push him around.

When they first got together, Naruto was the seme and had control of the relationship. Sasuke would do all that Naruto would say, it was cute, seeing the raven blush as he stroked his lips with his fingers, the whimpers that came as he slightly nibbled on his bottom lip. Seeing the great Uchiha fall under his power, it was adorable and Naruto loved it.

But Sasuke became dependant on Naruto for everything. Naruto had to call it off for his own good, but of course he still loved him. He was his Sasuke, his uke, his love, his life. It killed him being so harsh but he had to move on, if that's what it took to prevent him being clingy and needy then that's what he would have to do.

As people found out that they had broken up, everyone was now hitting on Naruto. When had he become so popular? When he was recognised as the next Hokage. Tsunade watched as his skill developed and his growing love for the village that had one hated him so much, and the people. Also, he had become the best looking shinobi around. He had a serious attitude when needed but was still able to have fun, where everyone would recognise the old Naruto. He was their saviour, their hero, they all loved him and very few still saw him as the hated kyubbi vessel. They were a small group now, shunned by all those who loved and cared for Naruto.

Even though he was in line to be the next Hokage, he still had to prepare himself; he couldn't let himself be distracted.

Sasuke now got off the floor he had been crying on and went to the bathroom. He looked at himself in the mirror and hated what he saw. He was pathetic, Naruto was right to leave him. He was a mess; his eyes were red and puffy, his face was pale with red blotches from where the tears had run down his face. He screamed and threw a fist into the mirror. It smashed into millions of pieces and cut him up, bad. But he did nothing to take them out and stop the flow of blood. Instead he sighed from relief as his blood flowed away from him. He soon collapsed onto the cold tiled floor.

Naruto wasn't going to come tonight and make love to him. No one had come to see how he was dealing with the breakup, surely everyone would know by now. Nothing went unheard in this village, and so he lay there, knowing that he wouldn't be found.


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey Naruto, how's Sasuke dealing with all of this? He really loves you, ya'know?"

"Yea I do know, but he needs to stop depending on me. Surely you have realised that he is always clinging on to me."

"Yea but, there was a time where I would have loved that!"

"It's the same for me, I used to love him creeping up behind me and wrapping his arms around my waist, whispering in my ear… but now, now he's just obsessed, he won't let me talk to anyone and he won't talk to anyone other than me! It's for his own good"

"Well, okay. Do you think it would be a good idea for me to go over there? See how he's doing?"

"Yes please Sakura-Chan, he needs to know that I'm not the only one to care for him."

"Do you still love him?"

"Well…" he looked down to floor as he said, "no, but that doesn't mean I don't care for him. He is dear to me and I want nothing more that to see him happy, just, not with me."

"You're so real, by Naruto-kun."

She walked away and approached Sasuke's house. The door hadn't been locked and she let herself in hen Sasuke hadn't replied to her call or knock.

"Hello Sasuke? I know you probably don't want to see be right now, but I just wanted to make sure that you're alright."

She searched through the house but couldn't find the now single boy. She went to the bedroom and saw the wet pillows, 'he must have been crying for ages' but he wasn't in there, she was about to leave when she spotted another door, 'of course, this is the great Uchiha's house, every bedroom has an ensuite bathroom' she approached the door and attempted to turn the knob but the door didn't open, 'found you'.

"Sasuke? I know you're in there"

Silence

"I came to check up on you, see how you're doing"

No reply

She started banging on the door.

"SASUKE! open up! NOW!"

When he still didn't respond, she kicked the door open and found Sasuke in a pool of his own blood on the floor all scratched up. She gasped and fell to his side, removing all the glass before healing him.

He coughed awake and looked around to see himself on their bed…no…not _their_ bed anymore, his bed. Naruto had left him.

"argh!!"

He screamed at the ceiling and clutched at the bed covers surrounding him. 'who found me? Why wouldn't they just let me die?!'

"Sasuke!"

A pink haired girl entered the room as Sasuke rolled over and started pounding the pillow with his fists, screaming. Sakura ran over to him and grabbed his wrists before he threw anymore blows at the defenceless pillow. He looked at her for a second before breaking down into more sobs. Sakura let go of his wrists and he fell onto the bed, curled up in a ball like a small child who lost their favourite toy.

"Sasuke"

Sakura whispered, moving closer to him and manoeuvring him so she was hugging him with his head on her shoulder, holding his tight as she soothingly stroked his back and ran her fingers through his hair. She didn't try to stop him or tell him that everything would be alright. She just stayed with him and let him cry till there were no more tears to fall.

-TBC-


	3. Chapter 3

An hour later, Sasuke was done crying and was now sitting on the edge of his bed looking down at his feet as Sakura came in with two mugs of hot chocolate. He mumbled his thanks as his own hot chocolate was handed to him and sipped on it gently.

Sakura watched with worried eyes as Sasuke continued to consume his drink.

"Sakura?"

"Yes Sasuke?"

"d-did Naruto - "

He stopped talking, did Naruto what? Tell sakura to go there to check on him, tell her that he didn't love him anymore; tell her that he hated him?! But he didn't know how to word his questions. But the one he wanted to know the answer to the most was 'why', sure Naruto had said why, but Sasuke didn't want to believe it.

"Why?"

Sakura sat there in silence for a while, not knowing what to say. Should she tell Sasuke the truth? Or did he just want to know why she was there?

"Why did he leave me?"

"H-he… Sasuke, you have changed, a lot, ya'know? You used to be all, cold and distant. One goal in life, not depending on anyone. And, now… you were with Naruto, during that time you had changed."

"Was it a bad thing?"

"No! No no no no no. well… it was cute, to begin with. All of us around you, we saw how happy Naruto had made you. We saw how he made you blush, how in love you looked when you kissed and hugged and held hands. It was so sweet. All of us had nosebleeds!"

A small smile graced Sasuke's lips remembering the beginning of their relationship.

"We got used to it and we stopped harassing you and all that, but then, you changed a little more." That smile was gone.

"You would go everywhere with Naruto, we literally never saw you two apart. Ever. And then… you started getting like, this insanely jealous look in your eye whenever Naruto looked or talked to anyone else. You again began to ignore everyone around you, apart from Naruto and those who he tried to talk to."

Sasuke looked slightly ashamed of himself.

"I know that you love him Sasuke. I really do. But you let it get so far that it was as if you and him were in a world of your own. As if, you weren't here anymore. And I just, I think that he saw this too, it doesn't feel like it, but he did this for your sake. You can't go through life being jealous and being possessive of your boyfriend just because you think he's going to go off with every person he talks to. He really loves you and wouldn't even think of it, you should have trusted him more. You need to give him some space. I'm sure Naruto will take you back. You just need to give him some room to breathe and not be so clingy and …stuff..." she finished lamely.

"You really think that he'll take me back?"

"Eventually"

"Thanks Sakura"

"No problem"

-TBC-


	4. Chapter 4

Naruto strolled through the small village, distracted, and unaware of the passersby smiling and slightly bowing their heads towards him as he went past. He thought back to Sasuke and when he had broken up with him, he thought about how Sasuke had protested, still the same new Sasuke. He had to remind himself that he was trying to help Sasuke. And as he was to be the new Hokage, he had to be able to see what was best for his future people.

It burned him inside that he was so harsh to the one he loved. No. _This_ wasn't the Sasuke that he loved. He loved the one that hadn't always depended on him, and hadn't always clung to him. He loved the one who was there for him and cared for him and held him tight in a welcoming embrace rather than a clingy, desperate one. He wouldn't return to him until that had happened. He wouldn't go back until he had the old Sasuke back. Not the majorly emo one that talked to no one and was really arrogant, but well, the one I just said!!

A kunai was flung at Naruto's head from behind and he caught it in the hook with his index finger not even turning to see who it was, "what are you doing, Konohamaru?"

"Ahh, leader! You're so cool!! You could tell who I was without even looking!"

"Aren't we a little too old for this Konohamaru? You're about to enter the chunin exams now, you need to keep up your training so that you can defend the village with your life. Don't you want to protect your home?"

"Of course I do, but I still want to keep my friendship with you, leader"

"Heh, you will, but right now, I have my own training to get to"

"But you're the best shinobi in this village! Why would you need to train?"

"I'm not the best Konohamaru, Tsunade – Sama is still the best fighter in this village, with Jiraiya-san, and I'm third inline"

"You've finally beaten that Uchiha as well; I remember when he was able to beat you without breaking a sweat"

"Heh, so do I."

"What happened to him anyway? I haven't seen him in a while"

'That Sasuke is long gone, I haven't seen him in so long, and I miss him' "I've got to go Konohamaru"

And with that, Naruto carried on walking towards the monumental heads of the Hokage's of Konoha.

When he reached the top he met his now long time sensei, Jiraiya. He was writing down notes, most probably for his latest Icha Icha Novel, after all these years, he was still the biggest pervert in all of Konoha.

"Hey, Jiraiya-sama, I can't wait all day to train to become Hokage just because you want to meet your next deadline for that perverted book."

"-sigh- you know Naruto, I miss the days where you called me 'ero-senin' and were freaked out by what you read in these books. Such innocence and such a bold personality. Do me a favour, don't let that die."

"Eh? If I want to become a respectable Hokage to this village, I have to be serious and straight forward about how I'm going to improve Konoha and make it a safer place for everyone to live and be. If I keep that brat that played practical jokes on everyone and made stupid mistakes, then Konoha will crumble!"

"At the expense of loosing who you are? Naruto, when you were younger, you said how you wanted to become Hokage, you wanted the villagers to acknowledge and respect you, you built your own life through practical jokes and having that loudmouth personality of yours, if that dies, then your dream might as well die with it because without that, even partly in your life, you aren't the same person who has worked so hard for the title of Hokage and has fought so hard to bring back the people you love and protect them from any harm that might come their way."

Naruto looked down at the ground, part of what he was being told made sense, it seemed right that he should only naturally be the same as he had been when he was a child, but hadn't everyone hated that kid? Hadn't everyone told him to grow up or die even? That was at the time when he was hated for being the Kyubbi, and he had played the jokes so that people would have a real reason to be annoyed with him rather than hating him for no reason at all. Does this even make sense?

The bubbly loudmouth that he used to be was as a result of the hatred thrown at him as a child determined to not let these people get to him. But today, today everyone acknowledged him, he was recognised for his efforts to protect the village he loved and he didn't have to be an annoying bubbly maniac to do it. Did he really need to turn back to his original self? Sakura hadn't liked that Naruto; Sasuke hadn't liked that Naruto; if he was still that Naruto then he might have never been with Sasuke. But hadn't Sasuke said that he loved him years before he had changed into this… this Hokage stereotype?

Hokage: protector of Konoha and strongest shinobi of the village. Loving and caring of his/her people. Hardworking and determined. Doesn't fool around and takes his/her work very seriously.

Was that what he had turned into; a workaholic? Someone who focused only on the task and didn't allow anything to distract him. Sure that wouldn't really seem like such a bad thing, until he spent so much time trying to do everything that he could to protect the village without realising that he was doing nothing of the kind. Could that really happen?

Naruto's head started to hurt before he had even began his training with all this hard thinking and complicated circles.

"J–Jiraiya…"

Jiraiya turned from his notes to look up at the handsome blonde.

"have I changed so much?"

Jiraiya paused before answering, taking a moment to word it, "you focus on training and becoming the Hokage only. It's been months if not longer since I have seen you with friends other than Uchiha. You eat the most balanced diets known to man. You don't leave time to fool around or for leisure. So, to sum it up… yes. You have really changed so much."

"but, not all of that is a bad thing, right? I mean, it's good to stay focussed to gain optimum power and to be the best Hokage and not let everyone down. That wasn't my fault that I haven't seen the others for so long. Sasuke got jealous of anyone that I talked to or was with other than him. It's good to eat a balanced diet isn't it? I gain all the nutrients that I need and I have the energy to train and become stronger rather than train to change excess fat from bad food into something worth having. I don't have time to fool around. I need to be ready for when it's time for me to become Hokage."

"But that's the thing. Once you become Hokage, it isn't going to be easy and you aren't going to have much time for fun. You're still a kid, enjoy it while you can! Naruto you are already so near to being equal to me. You have control over the kyubbi within you and know how to use him to your advantage, it would take a lot to have the village disappointed in you. You need to sort out your issues with Sasuke. he's clinging onto you and causing you to try even harder than you need to! If you carry on at the rate that you are going then you are going to burn out. Sure, it's good to eat a balanced diet but Naruto doesn't eat a balanced diet. I still see you cringe when you eat all those vegetables, you just want ramen. So EAT RAMEN!"

Naruto stood silent for a while and lowered himself to the ground.

"I dumped Sasuke. that's one problem out the way"

Jiraiya was shocked. Naruto and Sasuke where the couple that everyone had been rooting for, until Sasuke got clingy and jealous, but Jiraiya didn't think that Naruto would dump him.

"why?"

"it was like you said, he was clingy and causing me to push too hard"

"do you love him?"

"I love the old Sasuke. the one that everyone first saw with me"

There was a pause before he continued.

"I told him that he was holding me back from my dream…"

"na…ruto." Jiraiya coughed before changing his tone of voice, "I don't think today is a good day to train. We've spoken a lot today, about a lot of issues. How about, you take a day or two just to figure it all out. Try and catch up with your old friends again. As far as I know they have all recently returned and recovered from missions, they were planning on having a meal out tomorrow. Shikamaru told me to tell you when he was on his way to find Sakura and tell her about the news."

"okay. Arigatou Jiraiya-sama"

Jiraiya got up and left Naruto to his musings and the thoughts running through his mind…

-TBC-

_This must be one HELL of a confusing chapter…_

_And I'm sorry it took so long to upload. Do you really like this??_

**_(Edit: 27/08/08)_**

**_i have made a hotmail account for my readers to add me on if they would like t talk to me or if they would like to email me without it being edited by fanfiction_**

**_it will not show up in the chapter if i type it so if you wouldlike to add me then go onto m profile page and it will be there._**

**_anyone is welcome to add but those who aren't nice will be blocked and deleted. _**

**_that is all_**

**_sharing the love_**

**_(wtf! i can't even write my name at the end of a post!)_**

**_m m m . kai . m m m_**


	5. Chapter 5

Sasuke and Sakura strolled through the town together chatting away and catching up on what Sasuke had missed when Shikamaru found them, "hey! Sakura!" the pair stopped and turned around seeing an out of breath Shikamaru approaching them, "so it _is_ Sasuke!"

"hn, of course, who else would it be?"

Shikamaru gave a small laugh before openly laughing at some unreasonable joy of having a cocky Sasuke talk to him again. "It's good to see you Sasuke!" he said clapping him on the back before turning to sakura again, "we're having a get together tomorrow. BBQ all the rookies of our time are going. Everyone's returned from missions or recovered. Kind of like, a reunion thing, you coming?"

"sure, I haven't seen everyone in ages!"

Sasuke looked to the side awkwardly feeling a little left out and out of the loop.

"you're coming too, right Sasuke?" Shikamaru watched him as he turned with a somewhat surprised look on his face that might or might not have turned into a genuine smile for a split second before turning to his uncaring mask, putting his hands in his pockets and looking away as if uninterested, he said, "sure, if I must."

Shikamaru gave a satisfied smile, "oh, and I told Jiraiya to tell Naruto about it, will you be okay with that?"

"hn, would it make a difference if I wasn't?"

Shikamaru took a moment to think, "…nope, not really"

"just as well then"

"okay then, well, I'll see you guys later then" with a casual salute of his first two fingers he turned around and strolled away lazily gazing up at his beloved clouds.

Sakura looked over at Sasuke slightly anxiously, "are you sure you're alright with this? I mean you two did _just_ break up"

Sasuke looked down at the ground, "yea, I know. But I need to change and part of that means not being so clingy and… letting him be around other people without getting jealous. So, I might as well start as soon as possible. "

Sakura gave Sasuke an admirable look before grabbing a hold of his hand and dragging him down the road, "c'mon. lets go!"

"huh? Where?! Wha- Let go!" but his cries were useless as Sakura's super strength kept Sasuke's hand in her grip.

"how long has it been since you went out to eat?"

"…"

"exactly. Now let's go! I don't know about you but I'm hungry"

The two of them fell on Sasuke's couch with full stomachs and tired bodies. Sakura had insisted on dragging him around town as the nightlife started to kick in but by 8 o'clock, she had agreed to let him go home. They sat their silently, peacefully, as they allowed the events of the day to sink in. sakura thought that she had done a pretty good job f distracting Sasuke from thinking of Naruto, or at least, Sasuke did a good job of making it look that way. Sakura wanted to help Sasuke. She knew how happy he had been with Naruto (before he had become all over possessive and such) and she knew how in love they both were. A smile crossed her face as a plan formed in her head.

"yosh! Alright Sasuke, get ready for bed!"

"but it's only 8:30"

"it doesn't matter. Your going to need to be rested tomorrow."

"why?"

"tomorrow, we start operation: 'get Naruto and Sasuke back together!'"

"so quickly?"

"the sooner the better. It was good for you two to be together. you just need to return to your original self! Just… no _too_ much like your original self…heh" she gave an awkward laugh and scratched the back of her head, "but anyway, the first step is so realise, that not everyone out there is after your boyfriend. Especially not your friends. Not all of your friends are gay Sasuke. some of them actually like boobs. Last time I checked, Naruto definitely _didn't_ have boobs"

Sasuke pretended to shudder at the word 'boobs' and gave sakura a reassuring smile.

"you also need to remember. That Naruto most probably still loves you, at least, the earlier you… so he wouldn't even give anyone who _was_ trying to steal him away from you a second glance! So, the way you need to show that you don't think everyone is out to steal your boyfriend, is to go the gathering tomorrow and leave him to talk to some people on his own and even have a conversation with him _and_ other people as well. If the opportunity arises, tell him, 'I'm not giving up on you. I _am_ an Uchiha after all, and Uchiha's don't give up, and they certainly don't lose… dobe' and then flash him your best Uchiha smirk. Got it?"

Sasuke nodded with a determined look on his face, even if he was slightly freaked out by the accurate performance and tone of voice the old Sasuke would speak in.

"alright! So, go to bed now and I'll be round tomorrow to make you breakfast and go through the plan more thoroughly. Right, well I'm off for the night then." She leant down and kissed Sasuke on the forehead before heading to the door, "remember. Bed. Now. Ja!" and with that the door closed behind her.

The house all of a sudden got very quite as Sasuke sat there not really knowing what to think. A part of him was waiting for Naruto to come up behind him and kiss his neck and tell him that they should go to bed. But he then remembered that Naruto wasn't his at the moment, and the most he would get tonight was when sakura had kissed him on the forehead. He suddenly felt great full for that little gesture and felt that he would have gone insane from deprivation if she hadn't done that.

Shaking his head slightly, he got up and got ready for bed. He slept on his side of the bed on his side and looked at Naruto's side of the bed. He stroked the pillow absentmindedly before grabbing a hold of it and holding it close to him. he could still smell Naruto's scent and a single tear fell down his check as he determinedly whispered, "I'll get you back Naruto. I'll make you love me again"

_NB: I realise that my characterisation of sakura must have changed immensely from my previous chapters. I think that this story will be even worse than originally anticipated due to the probably constant characterisation change. But whatever floats your boat…_


End file.
